IFSA to educate investors on managed funds

TheInvestment and Financial Services Association(IFSA) has launched a new investor education initiative on managed funds in the belief that recent upbeat markets will fuel a return of interest in the sector.

IFSA deputy chief executive Jo-Anne Bloch says the association has compiled a brochure on managed funds as part of an ongoing rollout of IFSA education material throughout 2004.

The brochure,An IFSA Guide to Understanding Managed Investments, will be the first of the new ‘Getting the Edge' investor education series, to be freely accessed via IFSA’s website.

Bloch says IFSA will compile a growing, centralised information centre bringing together generic information and research from IFSA’s members, with new topics of interest to be added throughout the year.

"The brochures have been prepared in response to an increase in public inquiries and are designed with the first-time investor in mind,” Bloch says.

“The style is in keeping with IFSA's commitment to demystify industry terminology and to provide 'plain English' information for consumers that can also be easily adopted and disseminated by our member companies.

"Investors who return to the site regularly will be able to use the material to better inform themselves about strategies to improve on savings and investment,” Bloch says.

Such information, according to Bloch, is important due to a $600 billion savings shortfall between what Australians say they will need in their retirement and how their actual savings are currently accumulating.